Pastimes talk about their origin, influences and goals—EXCLUSIVE

If you’re looking for a different punk sound straight from the post-hardcore scene, then Pastimes is your go-to band to fill your needs!

Pastimes is a punk/post-hardcore band from Massachusetts. They’re fairly new to the punk scene, as the group was founded in 2014 by the likes of Adam Comer (guitar and vocals), Adam Spaziani (bass), Chris Ponder (guitar), and Jericho Grillo (drums).

The group have set a dynamic tone in their lyrics and songs, which include punk melodies, as well as some unique tones that separate them from the rest of the crowd.

All Punked Up was fortunate enough to have a talk with Pastimes to discuss some things about themselves, their background and what they’re working on as of late.

What helped you guys become a band?

We all grew up listening and playing music, so we were all passionate about it before we even met each other. Through mutual friends, we managed to get together and start creating music together. So having that passion for music and our friends helped us become a band.

Who/what influenced you?

Starting out we were heavily influenced by early pop-punk, hardcore, and emo music. Lately we’ve been bringing in more progressive, melodic hardcore, and post-hardcore influences. There’s a plethora of bands that we each pulled influence from, bands such as Real Friends, Gnarwolves, Such Gold, Four Year Strong, and Rush to name a few.

How’d you locate your sound and are you satisfied with it?

A lot of trial and error. Since we each bring different influences to the table there has to be a lot of compromise so what we write doesn’t lean too far towards one style. With everything we write we try to show this melding of influences and, so far, we are very happy with what we have created and our current sound.

Would you like to try different things?

Definitely; we’re always trying to grow as musicians and push the envelope with this band. What we’re currently working on is a big leap for us as we continue to push ourselves and experiment with new ideas.

How’s the fan base treating you?

Very well, we’ve been getting a lot of positive response to our music and the shows we’ve played. It’s the best feeling in the world to see people you’ve never met enjoy your music.

Have you been touring? What is that like?

We’ve done a couple small runs around New England and we had a blast with those. The last tour we did was our first larger run with our friends in Home Sweet Home (CI Records), starting in Virginia and ending in New Hampshire. It was also our first tour where we got to experience the joys of van troubles; losing a wheel and our transmission before we got to leave Virginia. Despite the setbacks, we played a majority of the dates and still had a lot of fun.

What’s your goal as a band? Long term and short term?

Short term; fix our van and get back to touring while writing more music. Long term; continue to tour, keep challenging ourselves with our music, grow our fanbase, and enjoy every second of it.

What on you working on now?

An aggressive and dark sound for our next release, we’ve got a few songs written and have been performing them alongside our current releases. We’ve gotten great feedback on this new direction so we’re focusing on honing those ideas.

What would you like to achieve?

We’d love to turn this into our full time job, but at the very least continue to see the country touring and making music that we love.